Method of making ingots.



L. E. HOWARD. METHOD OF MAKING INGOTS. APPLICATION FILED MAY 7, 1913.

Patented Mar. 10, 191% L. E. HOWARD.

METHOD OF MAKING INGOTS. APPLICATION rum) .IlAY v, 1913 Patented Mar. 10, 1914.

L. E. HOWARD. METHOD OF MAKING INGOTS. urniouxon nun [AI 1. 191a.

Patented Mar. 10, 1914.

3 SHEETFSHEET 3.

ljlfilflfED PATENT OFFIS L LEELIE E. EOVIARI), F LOCKPOR'I, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO SIMONDS MANUFAC- TUEIDJ COMPANY, OF FITCHBURG, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSA- CHUSETTS.

METHOD OF MAKING INGOTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 7, 1913 Patented Mar. 10, 1914. Serial No. 766095.

lie it knowii that l. Lnsiins ll. lilo-WARD, a r of the United States, residing at t. in the county of Niagara and New, York, have invented certain new and net ul Improrements in Methods iizihe' ingots. iu i'entir'vn relates to the art of manu factoring metal ingots, being designed t'llt ll for use in the manufacture of steel llifil ii in on Letters Patent No. 1,056,101, dated March 18. iil'lii, I have disclosed an ingot castingair l con'iprcssion machine wherein a two palt, separa le ingot mold is locntcd direcilv above and in vertical alincmen't with the compression die to receive the moltsn charge poured therein, and means are prov for opening the mold after the in got i, reached the state oi partial solidifiiation and lowering the partially cooled in-- h t therefrom directly into an underlying ouupi on die, In a companion application iled .ilay i913, Ferinl No, 705,255, l have 0 "1d an apparatus cniplriiying the same i'oL inession die, but substituting; for

.thospecial mold shown in said patent an ordinary ono 'iiece mold adapted to receive a poor at a point. more or less remote from tho coz'apression die, with means for bodily sin 1;; the mold and contained ingot-to a position directly above lhc die for the lowering of the partially cooled ingot from the former into the latter.

.l u warming out my present invention I prefirably employ a compression die of the same character as that disclosed in my aforei pat-uni and co -pending application; I also employ portable inold-support, i no a car, on which an ordinary onein l may receive a pour of metal at a more or less remote from the compresl which car and mold may be transto a siiion directly beneath the located beneath LliG tracki point l 1 10!! (11k i'orrml die and means: war of the ear and in substantial axial with the die whereby the part may he bodily raised out a i .l into the die for compres sion; tin-lo ly adopt the broad mode of operation di vlo l 1. patent aforesaid to u in will: whrre 1 ingots are cast on i i a wading pit.

My nt iin'rii-I ion is elxellently adaptl w l ll ed to the carrying out of a llOYCl and useful operation in processes of manufacture wherein the metal is first poured and partiall cooled in a mold, and then transferred from the mold to a C()l'Il}')ISSlOIl die to re ceive lateral compression.

here a tapered mold is used in carrying out my present in \Qllt-lOfi it is positioned on the ear or other inoldsupport with its Wide end up; and by employing a compression die with parallel walls the greatest compression is received at the upper or wide end of the inggon so that the resulting compressed ingot has approximz-itely parallel, instead of tapering. sides. This etl'ects a decided advantage in eliminating the defect known as piping, bv reason of squeezing in the top end of the ingot. under a pressure which is graduated from. top to bottom of the ingot corresponding in a general Way with the location of the pipe. i

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated one practical forth in and by which the invention may be pract-ised, and referring thereto Figure l is aside elevation of the. apparatus, in cross section through the ingot ear track and underlying pit containing tlr povs'er cylinder and rain for forcing the ingotout of the mold and into the die; showing a car and ingot-mold locked thereon" movable to a position directly beneath the die. Fig. 2 is a similar View showing the ingot partially raised from the mold into the die. Fi 3 is a top plan view of the parts shown in ig. 1 Fig. 4 is a top plan View in "l Referring to the drawings, I will first briefly describe the ingot, press, which is a substantial duplicate of that shown in my Patent No. 1,056 101, equipped With-a single pair of die blocks, in lieu of the two shown in said patent.

5 designates each of a pair of parallel side frame n'iembers of the press, (3 an interlocking end trains ineinbei; and? a cylinder casting constituting the other end frame member and torn'ied with a pair of cylinder chambers 8 therein. The frame sectioi'is are strongly and rigidly united by interlocking joints 9 and 10 between the side and end members and by tic-rods ll. Slidably fitted within the cylinder chambers 8 are rains or planners 12, the outer faces of which (that against a eross head 13 that is supported (in and between the side members 5 of the press of apparatus line with t "e opening frame members 5.

frame by means of flanges 14 on the crosshead resting on the upper edges of said The other face of the cross-head 13 in turn abuts against the back of the movable die-block 15 that cooperates with a stationary di block 16; both of said die-blocks being sup orted on and between the side members 5 of the press-frame by lateral flanges 17 and 18, respectively. The die-blocks 15 and 16 have formed in their opposite faces V-shaped recesses 19 and 20, respectively, that unitedly form the substantial rectangular cavity of the die; the walls of the latter, as herein shown, being thus all parallel with the axis of the die and vertical throughout. The die-member 15 is loosely connected to the cross-head 13 so as to be retracted by the latter by a pair of links 21.

Fluid pressure is supplied to and exhausted from the cylinder chambers 8 through a cored duct 22 in the casting 7 and the pipe 23 leading from a valve 24 through which latter the pipe 23 is alternately connected with atpressure supply pipe 25 and an exhaust pipe 26. The cross-head 13 is retracted by a power mechanism comprising a cylinder 27 secured to the outer face of the inner wall casting 7, a plunger 28 in said cylinder, a cross-head 29 on the outer end of said plunger, and pull-bars 30 that are connected at their outer ends to the ends of said cross-head and at their inner ends formed with hooks 31 engaging grooves 32 formed in the opposite sides of the cross head 13. A branch pressure fluid supply pipe 33 leads from the supply pipe 25 to the inner endof cylinder 27, whereby the cross-head 13 is normally maintained fully retracted and the compressing die open; the crosssection of the plunger 28 being so small relatively to the cross-sections of the rams 12 as to make it practically inexpedient to equip the cylinder 27 with'fiuid pressure controlling valves. The compression die formed and equipped substantially as above described, is mounted on any suitable substructure or support (not shown) a suitable distance above a pit 34 that may connect with or form an extension of the ordinary casting pit. Straddling the it 34 is a railway track 35, on which is adapted to travel a portable mold-support herein shown as the ordinary ingot-car 36. This car is, however, preferably modified to the extent of including lugs or stop-pieces 37 which serve to properly center thereon a tapered mold 38, and links 39 pivotally mounted thereon and adapted to engage at their upper ends lateral lugs 40 on the mold to hold the latter down under the stripping action hereinafter described. The bottom of the mold 38 has a tapered opening 41 adapted to be closed by a tapered plug 42; and in 41 is an opening 43 through the platform of the car to accommodate the lifting ram hereinafter described.

turned to connect Within the pit 34 and in substantial axial alinement with the compression die is rigidly secured a power cylinder 44 containingthe piston or head 45 of the ram 46. The cylinder 44 connects at its upper and lower ends with fluid pressure pipes 47 and 48, respectively, each of which serves alternately to supply and exhaust fluid pressure to and from the cylinder from supply and exhaust pipes 49 and 50, respectively, through a controlling valve 51; this latter being capable of being turned to an intermediate position in which all of the pipes 47, 48, 49 and 50 are blanked, so as to confine a body of liquid in the cylinder 44 and hold the ram elevated until the two members of the die have secured a good hold upon the ingot.

In preferred practice several presses would be arranged side by side with a unit spacing from center to center of the different presses, and ingot cars of the general type shown would be provided of such proportions that, when coupled up in a train, their unit spacing would coincide with that-0f the presses, so that when a string of cars carrying one or more molds each are moved in any form of tractor under the presses, the center lines of the molds and the center lines of the compressing dies are in approximate axial alinement.

In practising the invention, the cars carrying the molds are moved'to the casting pit and the molds filled in the usual manner y any form of ladle which happens to be in use. After pouring is completed, the cars are moved beneath the presses and arrested at points so that the ingot-molds are directly beneath the dies. Th'e'valve 51 controlling the pit-cylinder is then turned to the position shown in Fig. 2, causing the ram 46 to ascend into contact with the plug 42 and by its further ascent to push the artly cooled ingot out of the mold and up into the compressing die, the mold itself being restrained from ascending with the ingot by the holding links 39. The controlling valve 51 is held open only long enough to permit the ingot to ascend to the proper position in the compression die, whereupon it is then turned to blank position, thus holding the ram in its elevated position. The com ressing die is now brought into action to e ect the lateral compression of the partly cooled ingot in the manner described in my aforesaid patent. As soon as the die has obtained 'a good firm grip on the ingot so that it cannot drop through into the pit, the car, of course, may

, be drawn away, leaving the pit free.

finished the ingot After compression 1s may be removed from the die by either of two approved methods, one of which would consist in again applying pressure to'the pit I cylinder so as to bring the ram into contact with the ingot. The valve 24 would then be the cylinders 8 with the discharge pipe 26,

1 car then removing the ingot to any desired allowing the retractingl cylinder 27 to open the die, leaving the ingot loose in the latter. Pressure would then again he applied to the pit cylinder and the ingot at once raised therefrom out of the die 1 to enable the soaking-pit tongs carried by a l soakingpit crane to grasp the top of the inl got and carry it either to the soaking-pi or to a stock pile, desired. The other method of taking care f the compressed ingot would be to run an ingot car under the press and then allow me ingot to drop through the die onto this; car by gravity only, the

place of disposal.

The die members may, of course, be made tapered to conform with the shape of the ingot; but they are preferably made with parallel side walls so that the lateral pressure I .U o is appl1ed,1n a direction at right angles to the axis of'the ingot and, as above stated, the compressionefi'cct extends from a maximum at the wide end of the ingot in a graduated degree to a minimum at or near the l narrow end oi the ingdt; This effects a desirable distribution and condensing of the fluid interior of the ingot that considerably facilitates the avoidance of the piping defect.

The apparatus herein described is not claimed herein, but forms the subject-matter of a divisional application filed by me on the 21st day of November, 1913, Serial No. 802,194.

1. A method of manufacturing ingots which consists in first casting a tapered ino-ot with its wide end up, and then ap lying l ateral pressure to the artially coo ed ingot in a direction at rig it-angles to its axis while the interior of the ingot is still in a. molten condition.

2. A method of manufacturing ingots which consists in first casting a tapered ingot with its wide end up, removing the ingot from the mold while in a partially cooled condition, and then subjecting the in gotsto lateral pressure in a die having parallel walls while the interior of the ingot is still in a molten condition.

3. A method of manufacturing ingots which consists in first casting a tapered ingot with its wide end up, removin the ingot and its mold to a position direct y beneath a compression die, forcing the" "pa i f .Y cooled ingot upwardly out of the into the die, and-then applyin laterl pres sure to the ingot by means of t e diell LESLIE E. HOWARD. Witnesses: J. G. TABER, WV. R. MARVIN. 

